10,000 B.C. Movie Reviews

Roland Emmerich, the king of disaster movies, takes a stab at ancient times for a change of pace. Well, actually, he already did this once with “Stargate”, in a matter of speaking, so maybe this isn’t such a novelty for him after all. Unfortunately for Emmerich, the reviews for “10,000 B.C.” haven’t exactly been kind. In fact, they’ve been downright caveman-like in their blunt criticisms of his film’s generic action-adventure quality. Head on below to see what the big boys are saying about the movie, and whether you should drop a $20 spot on it this Friday or not.

As I type this, there are 74 critical reviews of the film at Rotten Tomatoes, with a massive split of 68 negative reviews to a measly 6 positive ones. That ain’t good.

Here are some sample reviews:

Comingsoon.net appreciated the entertainment value and CGI, but little else:

If you don’t overanalyze it, “10,000 BC” can be an entertaining film. If you like CGI creatures attacking people, you’ll find it worth checking out. Just don’t go in expecting an Academy Award winning film.

And I saith to you, verily, it is a bad movie, with foolish racial politics, and indeed it may someday be spoken of as the worst of the year 2008. But I also saith to you that I had a strangely good time, and whether that is from laughing at ‘‘10,000 B.C.’’ or laughing with it I knoweth not, although I strongly suspect the former.

Strait makes a convincing hero as his youth, athleticism and earnestness stand in him in good stead. Belle does manage to suggest a bit more depth to her character as she is anything but a poor girl quietly acquiescing to her captivity. Curtis and Virgel are solid as aging tribal leaders looking to pass on their dearly purchased wisdom.

The New York Times‘ guy echoes much of the reviews, which is that “10,000 BC” is dumb fun:

But the big, climactic fight, complete with an epic snuffleupagus rampage, is decent action-movie fun. And as a history lesson, “10,000 BC” has its value. It explains just how we came to be the tolerant, peace-loving farmers we are today, and why the pyramids were never finished.

So there you go. The critics, even the ones that gave it a negative review, all seem to agree that “10,000 BC” is what it is, and what it is is good fun at the movies, with stellar CGI and a generic plotline. Hey, what more do you want about a movie set 10,000 BC in the past, but everyone happens to speak English?